SUV Reviews

We're running Hyundai's tiny new electric city car as a long-termer. Here are our first impressions.

Volkswagen has a new large SUV in the Tayron. Replacing the Tiguan Allspace and taking on some of the duties left by the departing Touareg, it’s now the brand’s key seven-seat family offering. Does it carve out its own identity?

Hyundai's Kona sits at the top of the Aussie small SUV sales chart with multiple options across naturally aspirated, turbo and hybrid models. We've spent a week with Hybrid Elite version to see if it's more than a one trick fuel economy pony.

Like a few brands lately, Polestar made waves when it arrived in Australia, but has since struggled to capitalise on the original hype.One of its issues is that it arrived with just the one product, the Tesla Model 3-rivalling Polestar 2, which seemed inherently limited in how well it could do.But the brand has fleshed-out its range now with the sporty Polestar 3 mid-size SUV, and the car we’re looking at for this review - the Polestar 4. Does it have what it takes to keep building this premium challenger brand in an increasingly tough landscape? Let’s find out.First up, what exactly is the Polestar 4? The Swedish brand pitches this EV up as a direct rival to the new electric Porsche Macan, but one glance at the pictures and you might have noticed that this car isn’t an SUV.After driving it, I find the assertion that the Polestar 4 is some kind of ‘crossover’ even harder to believe. Really it’s a slightly pumped-up segment-bender which is definitely closer to an executive sedan than a standard mid-size SUV. Then again, its long roof and high bootline make it feel like some sort of coupe.I am all for this. SUVs are a dime a dozen, and cars like this with genuinely interesting proportions are hard to come by. Plus, as I’ll explore later, it has benefits when it comes to actually driving it.We also have to talk about the rear window. The Polestar 4 doesn’t have one, instead forcing you to rely on a digital rear vision mirror. You get used to it but it never seems to make up for the missing depth perception a real mirror provides.How much does the Polestar 4 cost? The car we're driving is my pick of the range. It’s a Long Range Single Motor with the pricey (but worth it) Plus Pack.The Long Range is, in fact, the base car, starting at $78,500 before on-roads, while the Plus pack adds a further $8000 of kit bringing the total to $86,500.Once you’ve ticked the boxes to get to this point, Polestar tries to tempt you into a Dual Motor - which doubles your power (from 200kW to 400kW) for $88,350 - but don’t go for it. Once you add the missing items, you’re at almost $100,000 and at that price this car makes a bit less sense.Having said that, the Polestar 4 impresses compared to rivals. The aforementioned Porsche Macan EV starts from a whopping $129,800 while only offering slightly more power and range. Based on the segment-bending design of the Polestar 4, I’d also consider its closest rivals to be the BMW i4 (eDrive 35 - $88,000), Mercedes-Benz EQE (300 - $136,600), or perhaps even the equally strange Hyundai Ioniq 6 in specced-up Epiq guise ($82,000). Interestingly all of those options offer similarly long driving ranges, but it certainly makes the value case for the Polestar and its 620km WLTP range evident.Standard kit at this money is fine, you get the recycled(ish) interior trim, big screens, big wheels, ambient lighting - basically the lot - but it’s worth splurging for the Plus Pack because you just get so many luxurious and convenient additions it makes it hard to say no.Sure there’s the (very good) Harmon Kardon audio system, but you also score the fancy illuminated door trims, cool-looking light grey contrast trims, high-end LED headlights, auto-dimming exterior mirrors, tri-zone climate, additional power adjustments for the front seats, a heated steering wheel and heated seats, as well as 22kW(!) AC charging capability.I mean, come on. I know they ‘get you’ with it - the Plus should have been its own trim level, but seriously, if I was already spending this much I’d be ticking that box.Maybe the real sell is this car's driving range, though. The Polestar 4 can travel ridiculously far on a single charge. It feels nearly akin to just driving a petrol car. In my time with the car covering a significant distance, I was always impressed with how much range was left every time I turned it on.I even took to charging it like I use a petrol car - just once every week or two as required. Thankfully, despite its enormous battery, it also charges relatively quickly. The maximum charging speed of 200kW should see the Polestar 4 charge from 10 to 80 per cent in around half an hour, but on the more prolific 150kW charging stations, I was seeing around 40 minutes.The 22kW AC charging rate available on the Plus Pack is a rare addition - only a handful of cars in Australia can do this. Unfortunately, there are fewer chargers that can, which makes this more of a future-proofing feature.Of the WLTP-claimed 620km range, my car was reporting closer to 590km in the real world according to my back-of-the-napkin numbers. With this much driving range you won’t notice the small deficit. I scored 16.4kWh/100km of energy consumption, which is not bad for a car this size.Here's some food for thought on the battery front though: Polestar claims to be the sustainability brand, and yet this car seems emblematic of the brand’s mission butting heads with its need to be a luxury automaker.Sure, a 100kWh battery gives it an enviable driving range, and the brand publishes a quite thorough emissions report which claims that the Polestar 4 is more carbon efficient than a combustion car or even a plug in hybrid (if you go by BMW’s similar emissions report for its 530e, for example).My issue with this is that 100kWh could be three or four plug-in hybrids instead of one Polestar 4. Which of those two options will theoretically remove more carbon from the atmosphere over 20 years? The maths kind of speaks for itself.The Polestar 4 is very nice to drive, giving off big luxury sedan vibes rather than the occasionally overbearing nature of some SUVs in this class. As you sit comparatively low in it, it hides the weight of the batteries well, and its 200kW motor provides plenty of immediate thrust while not being as overwhelming as, for example, the Tesla Model 3 Performance.So it’s a better tourer than a lot of EVs in my opinion. It’s also pretty quiet on the open road, and the attention to detail in the driver feedback and inputs is as European as they come, whether it's the sleek steering feel, or the smoothly integrated regenerative braking. Not too much, not too little.The ride is also relatively plush, offering a degree higher comfort than we’re usually used to from EVs with batteries this big. It’s not perfect though, and some terrain can catch it off-guard, making you feel the heft for a harsh moment.Still, it’s an impressive machine which manages to avoid the extremes.A final note on the ownership piece for this car. Polestar offers a five year and unlimited kilometre warranty with matching roadside assist, which is only really okay these days. However, it will cost you nothing to service the car for those first five years or 100,000km, which is pretty compelling, especially when combined with potentially ultra-low running costs from a home solar system.

My time with the Forester Hybrid AWD Touring has come to an end, and I have some thoughts for you on what is Subaru’s most important model, should you be considering putting one on your driveway.And I do mean important. Subaru sold a total 39,005 vehicles in Australia last year and a whopping 15,179 of those were the Forester. Only the Crosstrek (10,842 sales) got close, with none of the brand's other models cracking the 10K barrier.Important that this model stays popular, then. To try to ensure it, Subaru has finally taken aim at the Toyota RAV4, introducing a proper hybrid system (it calls it a 'strong hybrid', by the way) so it can go head-to-head with the country's best-selling SUV.The system pairs a 2.5-litre petrol engine that produces 121kW and 212Nm all on its own with an electric motor that kicks in another 90kW and 276Nm. Total system power is 145kW, and the brand reckons you’ll sip 6.2L/100km on the combined cycle, and get around 1000km from every 63-litre tank of fuel.Intrestingly, Toyota owns around 20 per cent of Subaru, and the two companies have collaborated on models like the 86/BRZ and bZ4X/Solterra, but there's no crossover between the RAV4 and the Forester. This one is all Subaru.There are two cheaper hybrid models sitting below my flagship model — the Hybrid Sport and the Forester Hybrid — but my Touring is the most expensive, listing at just under $56K, before on road costs. That’s quite the investment. Mind you, the RAV4 Hybrid tops out above $58K, so it’s all relative, right?Having now spent a little over three months behind the wheel – tackling everything from freeway jaunts to city running, and ferrying my 13-month-old boy and the Ikea's worth of stuff he needs every time we leave the house – I found some things I really liked, and some things I really didn't.Let's start with the good stuff, shall we?It’s boringI know, I know, that doesn’t sound like a compliment. But in this case it really is. I drive a lot of cars, newcomer and legacy brands alike, and the thing I have appreciated most about the Forester is that is has offered up zero surprises.It drives nicely, if a bit firmly in places, it steers well, its safety systems don’t appear tuned to drive people insane, the tech is pretty flawless and it has done exactly what we’ve asked of it with very little fuss. And in the world of new cars, sometimes no surprises is the best surprise of all.The ride can feel a bit harsh at times (weirdly it's more noticeable from the passenger seat) and the driver monitor is easily fooled by sunglasses, but both are liveable quirks.You don’t want for much in terms of equipmentThe Touring tops the Forester tree, and while it’s not cheap, you also don’t want for much. Our car rides on silver 19-inch alloys, gets standard roof rails and there are leather and suede seats that are heated and cooled up front. Elsewhere, there’s a 10-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, a sunroof, an 11.6-inch central touchscreen (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) and a 12.3-inch digital dash. There’s also on-board navigation, though most will surely be running Google or Apple Maps instead.It can fit a family (or my family, at least)Not all mid-size SUVs are built equally, especially when it comes to fitting child seats in the back. In some, the seats take up so much room that the front passenger finds themselves sitting too far forward. That’s not the case here. Plus the privacy glass, easy-access ISOFIX anchors and the fact the rear doors open super wide make family life easy. Even the boot, which swallows 484L with the rear seats upright, was big enough for all the gear we had to carry, including prams and the like.But every silver lining has a cloud. And with that, it's onto the negatives.The priceI know we said there are more expensive Toyotas. But in a world where you can drive away in a mid-size plug-in hybrid SUV for less than $40K, putting this on the road for around $60K is a bit of an ask, right? I dedicated the last long-term dispatch to trying to figure out what price tag you can apply to legacy. But I guess the ongoing success of models like this and the RAV4 goes some way to answering that question.The fuel useSubaru reckons you should see about 6.2L per hundred kilometres on the combined cycle, but I have covered A LOT of kilometres, and done a lot of long-distance freeway driving, and I can’t get the number to drop below 7.0 litres. Toyota claims an impressive 4.8 litres per 100 kilometres for its AWD hybrid, and real-world testing suggests a number with a five in front of it is pretty achievable.Some hybrid sacrificesIt’s not all good news on the Hybrid front. You pay more for the car, obviously, but you also get a heavier vehicle with marginally less boot space, and while petrol-powered cars get a full-size spare, hybrid owners will be left fiddling with those horrible repair kits should they ever get a flat tyre.Acquired: September 2025Distance travelled this month: 1184kmOdometer: 4460kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 6.9L/100km

The Audi Q5 Sportback has seen a much-needed update but does it make it a top-tier competitor in its segment?

Toyota was late to the game with its first EV, the bZ4X, so let's find out whether this mid-life update has improved the package.

The Dacia Duster is finally here! Well, it's actually here as the Renault Duster, but who cares when this well-liked small SUV has a reputation for off-road adventuring? And the Duster arrives as a family- and budget-friendly small 4x4 that is easy on the eye, very practical for day-to-day life and is reportedly capable off-road. Could the Duster be a legitimate rival for the Suzuki Jimny?

The GWM Tank 500 Ultra Hi4-T Plug-in Hybrid is big news for Australia: this is a body-on-ladder-frame chassis large 4WD with five seats, high- and low-range gearing, and a front, centre and rear diff lock. It has combined power and torque outputs of 300kW/750Nm, offers about 120km electric-only driving range, and it can be used as a 6.0kW mobile power station (V2L) - all for under $80 grand. 

The thing about performance cars – traditionally speaking, at least – is that you always know when you're in one. Sure, you can try to go easy on the accelerator, like if you're trying to sneak away from the house early in the morning without waking your neighbours, but a proper ICE-powered performance model will still never let you get away with it.There is always a tell. Whether it's an exhaust that barks into life with rabid Cujo intensity every time you fire it up. Or suspension so firm it's like the shocks have been filled with adamantium. Or even a big and bulging wing staring back at you every time you glance in the mirror. There's always something that feels like a price to be paid for having access to all that punch.But here's where it gets interesting. Because the Tesla Model Y Performance is one of the fastest cars I've driven this year. And yet, for 90 per cent of my time with it, I forgot I was driving anything other than a placid and friendly electric SUV.And I do mean fast. The Model Y Performance – the latest Tesla Juniper product to arrive in Australia – delivers proper supercar pace. As is always the case with Tesla, the details are a little murky. The brand doesn't quote torque figures, for example, and there are other mysteries.But we do know the brand claims a 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds. That's a lot of outright speed for your $89,400 investment. For reference, the blisteringly quick and super competent Porsche Macan Electric Turbo will knock off the same sprint in 3.3 seconds and asks $184,400 for your trouble. At the other end of the pricing scale is the Zeekr 7X Performance. Its sprint takes 3.8 seconds, and it lists at $72,900. Then there's the Kia GT Line, at $99,590, which also delivers a 3.5-second 0-100 sprint.Delivering the Model Y Performance's punch is a dual-motor AWD system which produces 343kW, which is fed through the big 21-inch wheels wrapped with Pirelli P Zero rubber. The set-up feels designed to channel all of that grunt into the tarmac efficiently, and it works, even under flat-footed acceleration, with no squealing or slipping from the tyres.But despite the big wheels and an adaptive suspension system that still feels too firm in places, the Tesla's most surprising party trick is its ability to coast around calmly and (mostly) comfortably when you don't want to unleash the full might of its electric motors.I was at the launch of the regular Model Y Juniper, and with gentle throttle inputs, this Performance feels largely the same. Like the rest of the Y range, this go-fast version carries-over the improvements that addressed most of what I didn't like about Tesla's best-selling model.The steering is far less darty and annoying than in the old Y, and it rides better (though not as nicely as the non-Performance, though that's a pretty understandable by-product of the go-fast add-ons). I'm even getting used to turning my head to the side every time I want to check how fast I'm going, owing to Tesla's steadfast refusal to fit a driver display or head-up projection.I can't abide the silly the gear selector that's now on the screen, though (you slide your finger forwards to select drive, backwards to select reverse, and you tap the screen to go into Park), and the air-conditioning is among the worst and most confounding systems I've ever used. It blows so hard (and yet not so cold) that on a sweltering Sydney day I pulled over and got out to make phone calls.And, of course, there's no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. I miss it, definitely. But I have to say Tesla's native and Google-powered navigation is probably the best in the business, and the broader tech offering is very strong, too. Using my phone as the key gave me access to all sorts of functions (temp in the cabin etc), and just unlocking, getting in and going is super easy – which, believe it or not, is not something you can say about all of its rivals.But back to the performance of the Performance. It's really something – proper push-you-back-into-the-seat stuff  – and it doesn't feel unsuited to the car. Whether in a straight line or cornering, the power comes on thick and strong, but the rest of the car feels buttoned down, stiff enough through the chassis and ready to respond. Competent across the board, really, and more nimble than its 2.0-tonne weight would suggest.Be warned, though. There is a total lack of fanfare involved here. It feels more like one of those superfast rollercoasters that propel you into the future rather than a properly engaging and emotional experience, like a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, for example.But it offers big performance bang for buck, and its ability to putter through traffic – complete with a claimed 580km driving range – before teleporting you into another dimension is one hell of a party trick.For the record, though, a four-year, 80,000km warranty is entriely underwhelming by today's standards, even if the battery is covered for eight years and 192,000km.